Earth discharging mechanism for excavators



July 11, 1933. N DE WIND EARTH DISCHARGING MECHANISM FOR EXCAVATORSFiled March 16, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l July 11, 1933. N` DE MND 1,917,508

EARTH DISCHARGING MECHANISM lFOR EXCAVATORS Filed March 15, 193.1ZSheetS-Sheet 2 Patented July 11, 1933 unirse srA'riEs earner orificeNRYIAN EE WXND, OF NEWTON, G/VA, ASSIQCTNOR TO THE PARSONS COMPANY, OF

NEWTQN, QVA, A CORPORATION- An object of my invention is to provide anearth discharging mechanism for excavators which eliminates a good manyobjections to the present day constructions in which ditcher bucketshave movable bottoms and other clevices provided for cleaning the earthout of the buckets, the parts of my mechanism being comparativelysimple, durable and inexpensive from a. manufacturing standpoint.

A further object is to provide an earth discharging mechanism whicheliminates the provision ot sides on ditcherbuckets, thus reducing` thenumb-er of surfaces to which the earth might stick.Y Y

More particularly it `is my object to provide an earth dischargingmechanism consisting of a conveyor movable at the-same speed as anexcavator mechanism such as an excavator' chain which has diggingelem-ents and earth carrying means thereon whether separate or combined.the conveyor being mounted adjacent the earth carriers andthe partsbeing inclined so that the earth will shift by gravity trom the earthcarriers'to the conveyor and eventually be carried by the conveyor to adischarge point.

A turtherobject is toV provide on an excavator having a digging' boomand an excavator chain with earth carriers thereon. a conveyor forreceiving' earth from the earth carrier of the chain. the lower end otthe conveyor being located adjacent the ground and a guard shoe forbridging' the `@gap between the conveyor and the ground.

Still a further object is to provide side members on the 2g'uard shoebetween which the excavator chain and the earth carrying means thereon,is movable.

lith these and other objects in view my invention consists in theconstruction. arrangementand combination ot the various parts of mydevice. whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinaftermore fully set forth. pointed out in my claims, and'illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a. side elevation of an earth discharging' mechanism forexcavators embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional plan view on the line EARTH nrsonanerneManganism.' son nxcAvAToRs Application led March 2.6, 15331. Serial No.523,029.

2 2 of Figure l illustrating the relationship of the excavator chain andearth carrying means thereon, the earth receiving,l conveyer and theguard shoe.

Figure 3 is a vertical, central sectional View 55- through the earthreceiving conveyer and the guard' shoe.y

Figure4 is an enlarged, vertical, sectional view of a portion of Figurel showing the operation of the parts.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic side elevationr showing' the boomadjusted'slightly away from the conveyer and illustrating hovv sag inthe excavator chain will to some extent keep the earth carriers of theexcavator chain 65 against the earth receiving' conveyer.

`'Figure 6 is a diagrammatic side velevation showi n a modified form otconstruction. y

Figure 7 shows a modiiied form of con`- struction in side-*elevation inwhich the earth 70 receiving conveyer is provided with sides rather thanbeing of troug'hed type; and

Figure 8 is asectional View on the line S-S of Figure 7.

On the accompanying drawings I have 75 used thereference numeral 10 toindicate generally a base tramefof an excavator or ditcher A. The baseframe l0 is supported by wheels 14 and caterpillar treadsl. Amotor 18'ismounted. on the trame l0 for propelling' the 80 excavator A and drivingthe operating mechanism thereof. A transmission casing is indicated at20. l

An upper trame 22 is provided for supporting1 the parts ot theexcavator. A boom B 85 is mounted on the frame lO in any suitablemanner.

A pair ot excavator chain drive sprockets w 24 are secured to a driveshatt'26. The drive shaft 26 is journalled in bearings 28 on the 90upper trame 22. Excavator chain idlers .30 are journalled on the lowerend of the boom B. Excavator `chains 32 extend around the sprockets 24and the idlers 80.

The sprockets 24 are driven by a Vdrive 95 sprocket 34 and a chainBGfrom a sprocket pinion 38. -The sprocket pinnion 38 is mounted on adrive sh aft 40 ot the transmission 20.

The excavator' chains 32 support tooth-like dive/'ger elements 42 ofordinaryconstruction 100 and earth carrying members C. The earthcarrying members C each comprise a bottom member ett and a pair of backmembers 46 and 48, but preferably do not have any side members.

An earth receiving conveyer belt 50 is provided for travelingadjacentthe youter edges of the earth carrier bottom members 44 and is supportedon a drive drum 52 and idler drums 54, 56 and 56. rlhe drums 52, 54, 56and 58 are suitably liournalled'with respect to the frames l and 22 b vmeans of brackets as clearly shown in Figure l of the drawings.

rihe conveyer' belt 50 may be driven by means of the drum 52. The drum52 is secured to a-drum shaft'60 to which a drive sprocket 62 is alsosecured. '.The chain 36 extendsunder the sprocket 62, after leaving thesprocket pinion 38 and before extending over the-sprocket VThe size ofthe sprock-V .It will be noted `thatfthere is a space bei tween thelower idler drum and the ground surface. 64. A For bridging'this space Ipreferably provide-a guard shoe D. The guard shoe D comprises aguardplate 66, supporting arms 68 and side plates 70. 'The supporting arms 66are providedwith hubs 72 journalled on a pivotshaft .74 whichis-supported by the frame l0. The guard'shoe D. when pivoted in thismanner, may swingup and down depei'idingon the ground surface betweenthe wheels i4: as the excavator travels. A stop bar 6 may be providedfor limiting the movement of the guard -shoe 66 tow-ard the excavatorchain162.v

For receiving earth from the earth receiving conveyer belt 50 anddisposing of it, a chute 76 may be-provided for discharging its contentsonto a transverse belt 80. The conveyer belty SO'discharges the earth atthe side of the eXcavatorA. The earth receiving conveyer belt 50 willfunction even though the earth carriers C are not in Contact therewith.Even when the boom -B is adjust-ed 'slightly backward from the positionshown in Figure 1 to the position showndiagrammatically in Figure 5.lthere will be sufficient sag in the excavator' chain to cause-it to bowtoward the belt 50 as illustrated and earth is'discharged therefrom ontothe conveyer. 'Vith the boom adjusted still further rearwardly, spacewould Vbe left .between the earth carriers and the conveyer beltinwhichearth might accinnulate, but wouldbe picked up by the carriers anddeposited on the belt Vas the excavator advances'y during the operationof digging a ditch.

As showninFigui-e 6 of the drawings, instead of providing` an inverted Vformation for the conveyer belt 50, the idler 'drum 56 vcupped ortroughed as in Figures l, 2, o

may be eliminated so that the contents from the belt 50 will dischargeover the drum 52 and into a chute 82 and onto a transverse conveyor 84.

In this ligure the boom B is illustrated as having extensions 100 and102 for carrying the conveyer and the guard shoe D.

rhus the earth receiving conveyer and the guard shoe may be adjustedsiniultaneously with the adjustment of the boom if the parts arearranged as illustrated in this iigure. In Figure 7, the conveyer is notand et, but is of flattype as best shown in Figure 6. Side members 104are provided to form a conveyer trough in conjunction with theV belt 50when its formation is flat.

Pract/cal operai/0n uiggingthe ditch indicated at 88. The scari- -lieuand loosened vearth indicated' ati-90 is picked up by the earth carriersGand-.retained thereon by the sides of the ditch 88, the bottomV membersLiet and the back members 46and the front wall 92 of the ditch.

'Yhen the carriers C leavethe ditclrtlie earth is retained thereon bythe'guard plate 66 and-the side plates -70 of the guard shoe D in placeofthe front wall-192 andfthe sides of the ditch S8. v

fter the earth carriers C leave the guard plate 66 they'contact-with theearth receiving belt 50 which is moving at the same speed as thecarriers. Due to the inclination ofthe boom B and the carrier 50,1thetendency for the earth 90 is to fall onto the conveyer Abelt by gravity.The edges 50a (see Figuref2) of the conveyer belt 50 are preferably troughed as shown in Figure 2 so as to retain the earth thereon without thenecessity of providing side plates on the carriers C. VThe drums 52, 54and 56 are spoolfshaped in the conventional manner for troughing the.conveyer belt 50 as shown.

As shownv in Figure 4, when vthe bottom members 4A of the earth carriersC eventually leave the conveyer belt 50 as it travels over th-e drum'52,the earth is carried on the less inclined portion of the conveyer -belt50 and finally deposited on the transverse conveyer' 80. i Such aconstruction eliminates 'the necessity for cleaning the .sides of aconveyer bucket, since the sides in the present invention areeliminated. Advantage is taken of gravity for transferring the earthfrom `the excavator chain to the earth receiving conveyer 50. i

As shown in Figure 6, 'the earthl may -be deposited in a transverseconveyer immediately after passing over the drum 52. The conveyer 84;may be swivelly mounted if d esired. A .swivel pin 94 may be mounted m astationary socket 96 provided for this purpose.

The boom B may be adjusted by any suitable mechanism such as the chain108 and gearing 110 shown in Figure 7 The gearing 110 is actuated forswinging the boom about the drive shaft 26 as a pivot and when theconnections 100 and 102 are used as shown in Figure 6, the sameadjustment for the boom will adjust the conveyer belt and the guard shoeD. Although I have shown the guard shoe on my drawings, it can bedispensed with since when not used earth would pile up in the place thatthe guard .shoe assumes and would be carried away as the machineadvances.

Other types of conveyers can be substituted for the belt 50 and otherchanges may be made in the construction and arrangement ofthe parts ofmy earth discharging mechanism for excavators without departing from thereal spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to coverby my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanicalequivalents, which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. rlhe combination with excavator mechanism including digging elements,earth carrying means and means for moving said elements and earthcarrying means in a. path at an angle to the vertical, of a conveyermovable with and mounted adjacent and havf ing a portion thereofparallel with said earth carrying means and traveling in the samedirection thereas to receive earth therefrom by transference of theearth from the earth carrying means to the conveyer during the parallelmovement of the earth carrying means and the conveyer.

2. In a device of the character described, a frame, an inclined diggerboom thereon, an excavator chain on said boom having a downwardlytraveling` upper stretch and an upwardly traveling lower stretch, earthcarrying means on said excavator chain, a conveyer belt on said framehaving an upwardly traveling upper str-etch arranged below andsubstantially parallel to the path of travel of said lower stretch ofexcavator chain, and means for causing synchronous movement of said lasttwo mentioned stretches in the same direction.

3. In al device of the character described, a frame, a digger boomthereon, an excavator on said boom, earth carrying means on saidexcavator, a conveyer belt on said frame having a stretch thereofarranged below and adjacent the path of travel of a stretch of saidearth carrying means, means for causing synchronous movement of saidstretches in the same direction, said conveyer belt having va lower endspaced from the ground s urface and a. guard shoe forming an extensionof said conveyer belt and spanning the Vdistance v form a frontfor saidback and bottom mem-A bers which are movable therewith during theoperation of receiving earth therefrom. n

5. In a device of the character described7 excavator mechanism, earthcarrying means i supported thereon including bottom members,

means for moving said excavator mechanism and a conveyer movabletherewith and travelmg m contact with said bottom members of said earthcarrying means whereby to receive arth therefrom.

G. In a device of the character described, a frame, a digger boomthereon, excavating means on said boom including earth carrymg means, aconveyer' belt on said frame arranged adjacent the path of travel ofsaid earth carrying means and having a lower end spaced from the groundsurface and a guard shoe forming an extension of said conveyer belt andspanning the distance between the lower end of the belt and the ground,said guard shoe having a guard surface in substantial alinement withsaid conveyer belt and having side plates on each side of saidexcavating means.

7. In a device of the character disclosed, a digger boom, excavatormeans on said boom including earth carrying means having back and bottommembers, and an earth receiving conveyer belt and a guard sliceassociated with said excavator means and the earth carrying meansthereon, and means for moving said earth receiving conveyer belt at thesame speed as said earth carrying kmeans whereby to form a front forsaid back and bottom members andinovable therewith while receiving earththerefrom.

8. In a device of the character disclosed, a digger boom, excavatormeans on said boom including earth carrying means and an earth receivingconveyer belt associated with said excavator means and the earthcarrying means thereon, said conveyer belt being troughed to providesides forsaid earth carrying means.

9. In a device of the character disclosed, a digger boom, excavatormeans thereon including earth carrying means having back and bottommembers, an earth receiving conveyer belt associated with said excavatormeans and the earth carrying means thereon, said conveyer belt havingside plates forming sides for said earth carrying means.

10. ln a device of the-character described1 a frame, a digger boomthereon, an excavating chain on said boom, earth carrying means on saidexcavatorchain, a conveyor belt on said frame arranged adjacent the pathor" travel of said earth carying` means, said conveyor belt having fla'ed side edges extending laterported thereon, excavator means carriedby' said'boom including earth' carrying means, a conveyer having aninclined portion adjacent the path of travel yol: said earth carryingmeans and a portion of less incline for carrying earth away from saidexcavator chain.

13. In a device of the character described, a frame, a digger boomthereon, excavating means on said'boom including earth carryillg means,a conveyer on said 'frame arranged adjacent the path of travel of saidearth carrying means and having a lower end spaced from the groundsurface and -a guard shoe forming an extension of said lconveyor andspanning the distance between the lower end of the belt and the ground,said guard shoe having forwardly extending arms pivoted at their forward.ends -for free up and down movement ofthe guard shoe.

Des Moines, Iowa, December Y8, 193,0.

NonMAN nn WIND.

